


Family Man

by DarthTella



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Family Feels, Introspection, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26351146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarthTella/pseuds/DarthTella
Summary: Jackie marvels at how well the Doctor treats Tony and is amazed to learn where he learned those skills.
Relationships: Metacrisis Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Comments: 14
Kudos: 72





	Family Man

**Author's Note:**

> This is for an anon on Tumblr who was curious on my headcanon about how Jackie reacts to the Doctor being a father in the past.

It was a lovely Saturday afternoon; sunny and not too hot. The perfect kind of summer’s day to have a meal out on the patio. Jackie hummed to herself as she went about preparing lunch. She could hear the birds chirping in the trees and smiled thinking how peaceful everything felt. It was never quiet this time of day, especially when the weather was so nice.

That’s when it hit her.

It was never this quiet at a time like this. Not when her daughter and that alien husband of hers was visiting.

Jackie looked out the window that faced the expansive back gardens of the estate. Pete was fast asleep on one of the poolside lounge chairs. That wasn’t a strange sight. What was strange was he was outside alone. Usually Tony would be out playing in the garden often with Rose and the Doctor getting in on the fun. Sometimes when she watched those three she had a hard time figuring out who the adults were and who the child was. Although, technically the Doctor that was now in her life was just barely two years old; he certainly acted like it at times. Still, their joyous laughter would fill the air, and somehow not rouse the napping Pete. Jackie had several photos on her phone of her two kids and one overgrown toddler of a Doctor playing a game of ‘how many things can we stack on Pete before he wakes up?’ (they really needed to work on the name of that game) But no such antics were happening today.

Jackie left the sandwiches on the kitchen workbench and turned down the stove so the soup wouldn’t boil over and went in search for her three missing family members. She went through room by room, until she heard voices coming from the library. No wait, it was one voice varying in pitch and speed sounding like it was carrying on a conversation with itself. As she got closer she recognized it as the Doctor’s voice narrating some sort of story.

Jackie poked her head around the door to the library. The Doctor sat in the large overstuffed armchair in the corner with Tony in his lap and Rose perched on one of the chair arms opposite her brother. There was a book in the Doctor’s hand - a fairly large leather-bound novel - and Tony was soaking up every word the Doctor read from it. Even Jackie found herself being drawn into the story as the Doctor just made the words come to life and did a different voice for each of the characters. Rose noticed her mother’s presence first and smiled up at her, motioning for Jackie to come in.

“What’s all this then? On such a beautiful day like this I thought you three would be outside causing a ruckus.” Jackie asked gently when the Doctor stopped for breath.

“Well Tony asked me to start reading him this book last night before he went to bed and I was only able to get a chapter in before he fell asleep. And not because he found it boring. He gave the sandman a good fight but ultimately Tony was forced to give in. I did ask him today if he wanted to go for a swim or something, but he wanted more of this!” The Doctor held up the book with a wide grin, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Poor ol’ Charlie never got to finish this one in our old universe. Now, here it is! Completed as it should be! And one of his best works, although I may be biased. I am Charlie’s biggest fan after all.” He winked and Rose ruffled his hair fondly.

“Charlie?” Jackie was stumped. Classic literature wasn’t really her thing, unless it was a romance.

“You know, Charles Dickens!” Tony clarified, “Rose ‘n the Doctah met him. They fought ghost-things with him! Just like the ones in this book!” Right, of course they met him. Rose had told her of some of their adventures where they met famous people who were long dead before she was even born. Jackie was still sort of jealous that her Rose got to meet Elvis. She also wasn’t surprised her son was entranced with these stories, especially with the way the Rose and the Doctor told them. They just had this way of making everything sound so alive!

Jackie smiled at her little family, forever grateful they were all here with her. Even if the Doctor was a right pain in her backside at times. Part of her hated that she had to put a stop on storytime for now. They were all happily snuggling with each other. But she knew how grumpy everyone got when they were hungry, especially Mr. Metacrisis. 

“Well, it’s time for lunch now. You need to go wash your hands and come eat now, Tony.” Tony pouted at his mother’s words. He looked so much like Rose when she was his age.

“Oh, mum! We’re not finished this chapter! It’s just starting to get really really good!” Tony whined. Jackie was about to ask a bit more firmly, but to her surprise the Doctor beat her to it.

“I’m afraid, Tony Tyler, it’s gonna be a cliffhanger for now. I promise I’ll read you the rest of the chapter later. Now, allons-y. It’s best you listen to your mum. I’ll race you to the sink.” Tony slid off the Doctor’s lap, and on the count of three, the boys were off tearing down the hallway, the book haphazardly thrown back on the seat cushion. 

“Don’t forget to use soap!” Rose called after them and got a distracted ‘yeah, yeah, yeah!’ from both of them in response. 

“I can’t believe how good the Doctor is with Tony, bein’ that he’s just an overgrown kid himself.” Jackie shook her head. “I mean, you remember all those nannies we went through. They all left because Tony was a handful.”

“Hmm, I wonder where he got that from?” Rose smiled cheekily.

“Oi, watch it you. You may be an adult, but you’re never too old for a smack. Plus, you’re one to talk. You were such a little madam.” Jackie sighed wistfully, “Still, you’d think the Doctor was a father himself at one point.”

“He was.”

“Seriously. Him? Mr. I-Don’t-Do-Families, although to be fair he’s gotten better in that department.” Jackie shook her head.

“He had a family centuries ago back on Gallifrey, his home world. But…” Rose trailed off as a sad look crossed her face. Jackie did recall the Doctor mentioning a war on his planet and it wasn’t hard for her to fill in the blanks. She could see that far-away look he sometimes got in his eye when he thought no one was watching him.

“I never even considered…” Jackie started feeling a bit silly. “I mean, I knew he was much older than any of us, but it’s hard to tell. He looks so young.”

“He’s over nine-hundred, although I think he’s probably shaved a few centuries off his age. He’s sensitive about that sort of thing.” Rose winked at her mother, and Jackie broke out into a fit of giggles.

“Yeah, I know how he feels. Don’t tell anyone I said that though.”

“Don’t tell anyone you said what?” Jackie hadn’t noticed the Doctor hanging out in the doorway. Man, he could be quiet when he wanted to be.

“Nothing.” Rose smiled innocently at him. He raised an eyebrow at her, trying to appear stern but failing miserably.

“Oh, I see. Girl talk. Brilliant! Go on, give me all that lovely gossip. I know you have some.” He leaned in conspiratorially. Jackie bit her lip to stop her giggles from overtaking her. She knew it wasn’t a joke he was being serious about the gossip, who was dating who and whatnot. It was definitely something he picked up from Donna in the metacrisis. Jackie thought it was one of the more endearing traits he’s developed, and she’d spent many an hour swapping stories they picked up from around town.

“Seriously there’s no gossip.” Rose chuckled causing the Doctor to pout. “Mum was just noting how good you are with Tony.” He made a pleased sound from the back of his throat and puffed out his chest a little.

“He’s a good lad. Waiting patiently in the dining room for his lunch whilst his sister and mother are dawdling behind.” He looked between Jackie and Rose meaningfully. Jackie sighed and nudged Rose towards the door.

“I can only hope that you two have a kid who’s so well behaved.” Jackie smirked at the Doctor who suddenly had this shocked deer in the headlights look on his face.

“Rose, I thought you were going to tell her at dinner.” He squeaked. Jackie pushed by him paying him no mind. Oh, how she loved winding him up.

Then his words sank in and her heart skipped a beat.

“Tell me what at dinner?” Jackie turned and saw a very petrified Doctor and a very shy Rose looking back at her.

“Surprise?” Rose asked, one hand resting on her belly while the other was being held in a death-grip by the Doctor.

“You’re not!”

“I am!” Rose announced excitedly. Jackie swept the two of them into a hug, Rose responding immediately but the Doctor was still slightly shell shocked and took a moment before he wrapped his arm around Jackie’s shoulders.

“I’m going to be a gran!” Jackie squealed releasing Rose from the hug, but she wasn’t quite finished with the Doctor yet. She framed his face with her hands, and he tried squirming away but Jackie succeeded in planting a big noisy kiss on his cheek (he turned enough so she missed his mouth completely). Rose decided to be no help to him at all and jogged off towards the dining room. Jackie let her go and made a promise to herself that she wouldn’t break the news to anyone else until she gave the go-ahead.

“You’re going to be such a good dad, I know it.” Jackie said softly. The Doctor hesitantly met her eyes, and she could see the doubt there. No it wasn’t doubt, it was fear.

“You really believe that?” Jackie was taken aback by how fragile he sounded and pulled him into the kind of hug she gave her kids whenever they were down; rubbing at the Doctor’s back until she felt some of the tension leave his body.

“I know you will, sweetheart. You have a gift with kids, I see it with you and Tony. You will be brilliant. And you also have Rose, me, Pete and Tony. You won’t be alone in this.” Her words seemed to hit a nerve and the Doctor shuddered in her arms. He took in great big lungfuls of air and Jackie could tell he was trying not to cry.

“Thank you.” He said softly, and Jackie gave him one last squeeze before releasing him fully. He still looked slightly overwhelmed, but looked far calmer now. “You know, I always wondered where Rose got it from. Since the day I met her, she always knew the right things to say. Always saw the things that I couldn’t - that alone saved our skins countless times.” He smiled down at her, and Jackie let herself bask in his praise for a moment. But only a moment.

“It’s so obvious she gets it from Pete. We can always trust him!” The Doctor chuckled as he mimed Pete’s famous wink and thumbs up.

“You git!” Jackie smacked him lightly upside the head, the bite of her words softened by her laughter.

“Now, I’m starved. What were you saying about lunch?” The Doctor held his hand out towards Jackie, wiggling his fingers at her. Jackie took it and the Doctor tugged her along as he ran full pelt towards the dining room.


End file.
